Lane change system for platoon of vehicles

ABSTRACT

A platoon control system includes a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls associated with respective platoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane. The platoon control determines if there is sufficient clearance in another lane for the platoon of vehicles. Responsive to the platoon control, the individual platoon vehicle controls control the respective platoon vehicles to maneuver the platoon vehicles from the initial traffic lane to the other lane in a manner that limits or substantially precludes other vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles. Responsive to the platoon control, the individual platoon vehicle controls control the respective platoon vehicles so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles enters the other lane first and then the other platoon vehicles enter the other lane ahead of the last vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 62/189,962, filed Jul. 8, 2015, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a vehicle control system and,more particularly, to a vehicle control system for a platoon of vehiclestraveling together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Platooning of vehicles is known, such as by using vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) communications. Cooperative maneuvering of the platooned vehiclesis also known. Communication systems for vehicles may provide forcommunication between vehicles and/or between a vehicle and a remoteserver. Such car2car or V2V and car2X or V2X technology provides forcommunication between vehicles based on information provided by one ormore vehicles and/or information provided by a remote server or thelike. Examples of such systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,580,795and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2012-0218412 and/or US-2012-0062743,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a vehicle control system that, such asresponsive to a determination of a vehicle or obstacle in a lane aheadof a platoon of vehicles, controls the platoon vehicles of the platoonof vehicles to change the lane of all of the platoon vehicles to anotherlane in a manner that limits or substantially precludes other vehiclesfrom interrupting the platoon of vehicles. The control system controlsthe platoon vehicles so that the last vehicle of the platoon enters theother lane first (when traffic clears) and then the vehicles of theplatoon enter the other lane ahead of the last vehicle in a controlledmanner. The control system includes a central or platoon control thatdetermines the lane change parameters (such as responsive to sensors ofthe platoon vehicles or the like) and communicates control signals toindividual vehicle controls of the respective platoon vehicles of theplatoon of vehicles, whereby the individual vehicle controlscooperatively control the respective platoon vehicles to maneuver theplatoon of vehicles into another traffic lane in a predeterminedcontrolled manner.

Optionally, the control system may control the platoon vehicles so thatthe platoon vehicles enter the other lane in order from the last platoonvehicle in line (which is the first platoon vehicle to change lanes) tothe first platoon vehicle in line. The vehicles may decelerate togetherto allow traffic in the other lane (ahead of the last platoon vehicle inline after that platoon vehicle has changed lanes) to pass the platoonvehicles.

Optionally, the control system may control the platoon vehicles so thatthe platoon vehicles enter the other lane in a different order than theywere in the initial lane of travel. For example, the last platoonvehicle in line (which is the first platoon vehicle to change lanes) andone or more platoon vehicles immediately ahead of the last platoonvehicle may enter the other lane (when traffic allows it) and then theone or more platoon vehicles ahead of the last platoon vehicle increasetheir speeds relative to the last platoon vehicle in line (or the lastplatoon vehicle may decrease its speed) to make sufficient space betweenthe platoon vehicles so that other platoon vehicles still in the initiallane may enter the other lane between adjacent spaced apart platoonvehicles. The vehicles may adjust their speeds in a coordinated mannerto allow traffic in the other lane (ahead of the last platoon vehicle inline after that platoon vehicle has changed lanes) to pass the platoonvehicles and to align the platoon vehicles in the initial lane withrespective gaps between the platoon vehicles that have moved into theother lane.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a platoon of vehicles that are controlled via acontrol system in accordance with the present invention, showing thatthe lead vehicle may determine the presence of an obstacle ahead via along range sensor of the lead vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a platoon of vehicles that are controlled via acontrol system in accordance with the present invention, showing thatthe lead vehicle may be alerted to the presence of an obstacle ahead viaa communication from another vehicle;

FIGS. 3-19 are plan views showing a control template of the platooncontrol system of the present invention; and

FIGS. 20-36 are plan views showing another control template of theplatoon control system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The goal of an adaptive cruise control (ACC) automated platoon formationis to hold the platoon together, without having gaps or notparticipating vehicles enclosed within or between the platoon members.It is desired that the speed of all of the vehicles in the platoon orpeloton convoy be kept relatively constant and the deceleration andacceleration actions be kept low and the distance (or time gap) betweenthe platoon participating vehicles be kept minimal, so that the fuelconsumption over all vehicles is kept at a reduced or minimal level.

It is also desired that just the driver of the leading vehicle needs tobe attentive to traffic conditions while the other drivers of theplatoon vehicles can stay inattentive to the traffic. Since naturallythe platoon is moving between other traffic participants (such as, forexample, a truck platoon on a highway moves in between cars and othernot participating trucks) the platoon control has to respect the othervehicles and has to consider their potential driving behavior andmaneuvers. Control wise these may be to be seen as disturbancevariables, in worst case behaving randomly.

The probable case is that other traffic participants have an interest todrive smoothly and want to advance by themselves. Since at least someother vehicles may be driven manually by human, not always optimal,rational or more or less jumpy or spontaneous behavior, or reactions totraffic situations may be produced by the human drivers. Sometimes suchactions are caused by being inattentive, unexperienced, demented,intoxicated or being handicapped in any way or just for fun. Theweakness of advanced automated, semi-automated vehicle control ordriving aid/assistance systems (ADAS) is that they typically lack orhave too slow data processing and low conception since the sensors areless universally usable as the conception of an attentive, experiencedhuman drivers. Particularly, the conception of the higher context of atraffic scene is difficult to grasp by sensor data conception algorithmof ADAS. Due to that, the usage of driving scene or traffic situationtemplates or patterns which lead to driving strategy templates, patternsor models possibly inspired by the driving behavior (or pattern) ofreasonable, experienced human drivers, is more successful nowadays thanhaving an algorithm which is freely drafting a driving strategy upon anemerging traffic situation.

In accordance with the present invention, driving strategy templates ofan (already connected) platoon of vehicles driving on a highway likescene are described below. The scenarios are based on the situationsshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, where the platoon of vehicles (such as a line offive trucks) is driving along a highway in the right side traffic laneand is approaching an obstacle (such as a slowly traveling vehicle orother obstacle) in the right lane and thus in the eventual path oftravel of the convoy. As shown in FIG. 1, the lead vehicle of theplatoon may detect the object (such as via long range sensing, such asvia a vision-based sensing system or radar sensing system or LIDARsensing system or the like), whereby the vehicles in the platoondetermine the presence of another vehicle or vehicles in the left sidetraffic lane at or near the platoon. Optionally, and such as shown inFIG. 2, the presence of the obstacle may be determined by a non-platoonvehicle (such as via a short range sensing system), whereby thedetection of the obstacle is communicated to the lead platoon vehicle(such as via a V2V communication link or the like), and the informationis also communicated to the other vehicles of the platoon, whereby thevehicles in the platoon determine the presence of another vehicle orvehicles in the left side lane at or near the platoon.

In an exemplary case shown in FIGS. 3 to 19 of the platoon drivingstrategy template, the platoon is moving at the right lane of a straighttwo lane (right hand traffic) highway approaching a steady, distantobstacle blocking the right lane (in general this will be a template foran ending lane, whatever the reason for that ending may be), while theleft lane is clear beside some other traffic participants. The task isthat the platoon changes into the left lane (fast traffic lane) to passthe blockage, without being cut-off or interrupted by enclosing foreign,non-platoon participating vehicles. It may be assumed that it is knownthat the distant object blocks the right lane at a known distance ahead,by the platoon control. That information may come from platoon vehicleinherent environmental sensors, such as visual cameras, infraredcameras, time of flight sensors, structured light sensors, RADAR, LIDAR,ultrasound sensors or any other kind of ranging sensor such as shown inthe example of FIG. 1, having a long range with the sensor having thefield of sensing 1 comprising a rearwardly directed (center) camera, thesensors having the fields of sensing 2 comprising rearwardly directedside mirror cameras, the sensor having the field of sensing 3 comprisinga blind spot camera, the sensor having the field of sensing 4 comprisinga cross traffic camera, the sensor having the field of sensing 5comprising a forward vision driver assistance system camera and thesensor having the field of sensing 6 comprising a forwardly directedRADAR. Alternatively, that information may come from remote, such asfrom the obstacle itself (such as, for example, where the blockingobject is a broken down vehicle with remote data transmission capabilitymaintained such as by having an E-Call system in a car (such as byutilizing aspects of the systems described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 62/312,127, filed Mar. 23, 2016, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety) or the information may betransmitted by another vehicle (or more than one vehicle, optionallypartitionally sent by different peers (such as by utilizing aspects ofthe systems described in U.S. Publication No. US-2015-0344028, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) or infrastructure which detects the blockage by its own (inherent) sensors suchas shown in FIG. 2.

For keeping non-participating vehicles off the platoon (and not gettingbetween any two platoon vehicles), the last platoon vehicle (in theexample of FIG. 3-19 all platoon vehicles are trailer trucks, optionallythe platoon vehicle may be a mix of every kind of road vehicle) entersthe left lane first as soon the traffic clearance allows it (which maybe determined by a short range sensing system of the platoon vehicle,such as image-based sensors or ultrasonic sensors or RADAR or LIDARsensors or the like). At that time the other platoon vehicles wait untilthe space for entering the left lane in front the first platoon vehicle(which is already in the fast traffic lane or other lane) is clearedfrom non-participating vehicles (waiting for the other vehicles to leaveinto headway direction), which possibly drive faster since these were inthe fast traffic lane originally. As a result, the platoon can keep itsspeed steady and the drivers in the platoon do not need to interferewith the driving control of the platoon vehicles. Optionally, theleading platoon vehicle is driving autonomous or semi-autonomous withdriver surveillance or fully controlled by the driver. In all cases thelane change for the leading platoon vehicle may be controlledautomatically according to the suggested lane change pattern or the lanechange of the leading vehicle may be just aided by visual, audible orhaptic HMI so that the leading vehicle driver may be able to change thelane according the template maneuver as well.

For example, when it is desired for the platoon of vehicles to changelanes (such as responsive to a determination of an obstacle or slowervehicle ahead of and in the current or initial traffic lane of travel ofthe platoon of vehicles, or such as when the platoon of vehicles has tochange lanes to get into an exit lane or the like), the front vehiclesenses ahead and to the side to determine if any object or vehicle ispresent in the other traffic lane or target lane, while the rear vehiclesenses rearward and sideward to determine if there is a fast approachingvehicle in the other lane (or in the current or initial lane of travel),while the middle vehicle or vehicles sense sideward to determine ifthere are any other vehicles present in the other lane. When it isdetermined that the other lane is clear (at least clear in the region inwhich the platoon of vehicles will occupy), and if it is desired orappropriate for the platoon of vehicles to change lanes, the rearvehicle changes lanes first (FIGS. 5-7), followed by the nextrearward-most vehicle (FIGS. 7-10), and then followed by the nextrearward-most vehicle (FIGS. 9-13), and then followed by the nextrearward-most vehicle (FIGS. 12-15), which is the second vehicle in linein the illustrated example, and finally followed by the leading vehicle(FIGS. 15-18), whereby all of the vehicles of the platoon of vehicles(such as five vehicles in the illustrated example, but there may be moreor less vehicles in any given platoon of vehicles) are traveling in theother lane with no other vehicles in between the individual vehicles ofthe platoon of vehicles (FIG. 19).

For example, a four vehicle platoon (comprising a front vehicle, a rearvehicle and two middle vehicles between the front and rear vehicles) canbe travelling along the middle traffic lane of a three-lane highway.Each of the platoon vehicles is equipped with a plurality of sensors. Atthe front of each platoon vehicle, at least one forward and sidewardviewing vision-sensing camera captures image data of the exterior sceneand at least one non-vision sensor (such as a radar or a Lidar sensor)senses and captures sensor data of the scene forward and sideward of theequipped platoon vehicle. At the rear of each platoon vehicle, at leastone rearward and sideward viewing vision-sensing camera captures imagedata of the exterior scene and at least one non-vision sensor (such as aradar or a Lidar sensor) senses and captures sensor data of the scenerearward and sideward of the equipped platoon vehicle. Along both bodysides of each platoon vehicle (such as along the side of a cab ortrailer or the like of each platoon vehicle), at least one forward,rearward and sideward viewing vision-sensing camera captures image dataof the exterior scene and at least one non-vision sensor (such as aradar or a Lidar sensor) senses and captures sensor data of the sceneforward, rearward and sideward of the equipped platoon vehicle. Capturedimage data and sensor data from all such cameras and non-vision sensorsis fed to a central electronic control module or platoon control (suchas wirelessly fed or communicated between the platoon vehicles orlocated remotely via cloud-telematics communication or the like) wheresuch received image data is processed by an image processor, such as anEyeQ3 or EyeQ4 or EyeQ5 image processing chip (and associated imageprocessing algorithms) available from Mobileye N.V. of Jerusalem,Israel, and is combined/fused with received non-vision sensor data (suchradar or Lidar-generated distance data or time-of-flight data) todetermine that a lane change from the traffic lane currently beingtraveled by (or initially traveled by) the platoon of vehicles is safeand that other vehicles are not present in or soon to be present in thelane segment of an adjacent lane to which the platoon will move into.The central platoon control (which may be remotely located or may bedisposed at one of the platoon vehicles) communicates control signals tothe individual platoon vehicle controls of the respective individualplatoon vehicles, whereby the individual platoon vehicle controlscontrol the respective platoon vehicles to maneuver the platoon vehiclesin the desired or appropriate or predetermined manner, such as to changetraffic lanes to the other lane.

The individual platoon vehicles may be autonomously controlled orsemi-autonomously controlled. It is envisioned that, for use withtraffic lanes designated for autonomous vehicles only, platoons orconvoys of vehicles will travel autonomously together, with the speedssynchronized or controlled to provide a desired gap between the platoonvehicles. The platoon control system may provide individual control ofthe platoon vehicle controls to maintain the desired or appropriate gapor spacing, and may adjust control of one or more of the platoonvehicles when a change is made to the platoon. For example, if one ofthe platoon vehicles exits the autonomous traffic lane, the platoonvehicle control or controls may adjust the speed of one or more of theplatoon vehicles to close the gap caused by the exit of the one vehicle.Similarly, the platoon vehicle control or controls may adjust the speedof one or more of the platoon vehicles to create a gap to allow entryinto the platoon of vehicles of another vehicle entering the autonomoustraffic lane. The platoon control may determine the departure of aplatoon vehicle via a communication from the departing vehicle or viasensors of one or more of the remaining platoon vehicles. Optionally,the departing vehicle may depart the autonomous traffic lane responsiveto the current geographical location of the vehicle (such as responsiveto a GPS system or the like) and/or to a navigation system or the like,whereby the departing vehicle leaves the autonomous traffic lane(whereby the driver resumes at least partial control of the vehicle) asit approaches an exit or intersection or the like where it will turn orotherwise leave the platoon path. After the departure of the departingvehicle, the platoon of vehicles autonomously regroups and continues onits way.

Since it is important that the non-platoon vehicles on the second orleft or fast traffic lane do not overtake the other platoon vehicles inthe first or right or slow traffic lane so that it will not be necessaryfor the platoon vehicles which are still traveling in the right lane toengage a full stop in front of a road obstacle that the platoon isclosing at, another strategy to that described above (with respect toFIGS. 3-19) may be drawn, as shown in examples of FIGS. 20-36. In theillustrated example, at least two platoon vehicles enter the left lane(in the example of FIGS. 20-36, three of five platoon vehicles haveentered the left lane by FIG. 30). These vehicles continuously increasetheir distance (the leading left lane platoon vehicle or vehiclesincrease their speed and/or the trailing vehicle or vehicles decreasetheir speed) to generate gaps large enough for the platoon vehiclesremaining in the right lane to move into the gaps and thus into the leftlane.

While the platoon vehicles traveling in the left lane are generating thegaps, the right lane platoon vehicles may control their speed in a wayto position themselves in the heights of the gaps to be ready forentering when its gap has sufficiently opened (FIG. 34). Optionally, thegaps may be one at another (one big gap for more than one vehicle) oroptionally may be one be alternating one (left lane) platoon vehicle,-gap, -platoon vehicle. The latter option will allow the right lanevehicles to enter in a zipper tooth like way such as shown in theexample of FIGS. 34 to 36.

Thus, the lane change and merging control template, such as shown inFIGS. 20-36, makes sure that the full platoon can change into the leftlane without getting cut off or interrupted by other vehicles andwithout the need that any of the platoon vehicles has to apply fullbraking in front of the lane blockage (or lane end).

The system in which the central or primary platoon control may beprocessed may be optionally the leading platoon vehicle or any othersingle platoon vehicle as a master vehicle. Optionally, the system mayrun on a cumulative group intelligence on several or all participatingvehicles, organized to exchange storing or processing tasks and resultsin a kind of cumulative cloud.

The platoon control may be separate or may incorporate an environmentalsensor processing and scene understanding (or determination,interpretation) system, optionally using a scene classificationalgorithm or the like, such as described in U.S. Publication No.US-2015-0344028, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

The platoon vehicles include respective ACC systems and sensors thatsense/determine the presence of other vehicles in the side lane adjacentto the traffic lane in which the platoon is initially traveling. Thesensors may comprise cameras or RADAR or LIDAR or ultrasonic sensors orthe like, whereby the ACC system (responsive to processing of sensordata) knows when it is safe to change lanes into the adjacent lane. Thesystem, responsive to the sensors and to the central platoon control,may control the steering and acceleration/deceleration (such as viacontrolling the engine and/or brake system) to maneuver the respectiveplatoon vehicle from an initial lane to another or target lane. Thesystem may also actuate a turn signal indicator of the respectiveplatoon vehicle to indicate to other vehicles on the road that therespective platoon vehicle is changing lanes.

The systems may communicate via a vehicle-to-vehicle communicationsystem or a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system or the like.Such car2car or vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure(car2X or V2X or V2I or 4G or 5G) technology provides for communicationbetween vehicles and/or infrastructure based on information provided byone or more vehicles and/or information provided by a remote server orthe like. Such vehicle communication systems may utilize aspects of thesystems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 6,693,517 and/or7,580,795, and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2014-0375476;US-2014-0218529; US-2013-0222592; US-2012-0218412; US-2012-0062743;US-2015-0251599; US-2015-0158499; US-2015-0124096; US-2015-0352953and/or US-2016-0036917, and; or U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/996,570, filed Jan. 15, 2016, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The camera or sensor may comprise any suitable camera or sensor.Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smart camera” that includes theimaging sensor array and associated circuitry and image processingcircuitry and electrical connectors and the like as part of a cameramodule, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO 2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The system includes an image processor operable to process image datacaptured by the camera or cameras, such as for detecting objects orother vehicles or pedestrians or the like in the field of view of one ormore of the cameras. For example, the image processor may comprise anEyeQ2 or EyeQ3 image processing chip available from Mobileye VisionTechnologies Ltd. of Jerusalem, Israel, and may include object detectionsoftware (such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755;7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties), and may analyze image data to detectvehicles and/or other objects. Responsive to such image processing, andwhen an object or other vehicle is detected, the system may generate analert to the driver of the vehicle and/or may generate an overlay at thedisplayed image to highlight or enhance display of the detected objector vehicle, in order to enhance the driver's awareness of the detectedobject or vehicle or hazardous condition during a driving maneuver ofthe equipped vehicle.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ladar sensors or ultrasonicsensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image datafor image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensingdevice, such as, for example, a two dimensional array of a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (atleast a 640×480 imaging array, such as a megapixel imaging array or thelike), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portionsof the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows andcolumns. Preferably, the imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensorelements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensorelements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensorelements or pixels. The imaging array may capture color image data, suchas via spectral filtering at the array, such as via an RGB (red, greenand blue) filter or via a red/red complement filter or such as via anRCC (red, clear, clear) filter or the like. The logic and controlcircuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and theimage processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitablemeans for processing the images and/or image data.

For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/orcircuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,694,224;7,005,974; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,796,094; 5,949,331; 6,302,545;6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268;6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563;6,946,978; 7,859,565; 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 7,881,496; 7,720,580;7,038,577; 6,882,287; 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or InternationalPublication Nos. WO 2011/028686; WO 2010/099416; WO 2012/061567; WO2012/068331; WO 2012/075250; WO 2012/103193; WO 2012/0116043; WO2012/0145313; WO 2012/0145501; WO 2012/145818; WO 2012/145822; WO2012/158167; WO 2012/075250; WO 2012/0116043; WO 2012/0145501; WO2012/154919; WO 2013/019707; WO 2013/016409; WO 2013/019795; WO2013/067083; WO 2013/070539; WO 2013/043661; WO 2013/048994; WO2013/063014, WO 2013/081984; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/074604; WO2013/086249; WO 2013/103548; WO 2013/109869; WO 2013/123161; WO2013/126715; WO 2013/043661; WO 2013/158592 and/or WO 2014/204794, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thesystem may communicate with other communication systems via any suitablemeans, such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO/2010/144900; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO2013/081985, and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0062743, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The imaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras (such as variousimaging sensors or imaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such asa CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like)and vision systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,715,093;6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642; 5,796,094;6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,720,580; 8,542,451;7,965,336; 7,480,149; 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,937,667;7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176;6,313,454 and/or 6,824,281, and/or International Publication Nos. WO2009/036176; WO 2009/046268; WO 2010/099416; WO 2011/028686 and/or WO2013/016409, and/or U.S. Pat. Publication Nos. US 2010-0020170 and/orUS-2009-0244361, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a video device for internal cabinsurveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, asystem for determining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle orobject, such as a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or the like.

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and arearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround viewat the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in International Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO2011/028686; WO 2012/075250; WO 2013/019795; WO 2012/075250; WO2012/145822; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/086249 and/or WO 2013/109869,and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the principles of the invention,which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A platoon control system for controlling aplurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platooncontrol system comprising: a platoon control in communication with aplurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respectiveplatoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles; wherein each individualplatoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehiclecontrols is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoonof vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein theplatoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoonvehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoonvehicle and the last platoon vehicle; wherein at least one sensordisposed at each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses aregion of another traffic lane immediately adjacent to the initialtraffic lane to determine if another vehicle is present in the othertraffic lane at or near the respective platoon vehicle; wherein,responsive to said at least one sensor disposed at each platoon vehicleof the platoon of vehicles, said platoon control determines if there isclearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles ofthe platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane;wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that there isclearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles ofthe platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, eachsaid individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoonvehicle to maneuver the respective platoon vehicle from the initialtraffic lane traveled by the platoon of vehicles to the other trafficlane in a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles frominterrupting the platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the othertraffic lane; and wherein, responsive to said platoon controldetermining that there is clearance in the other traffic lane for all ofthe platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into theother traffic lane, each said individual platoon vehicle controlcontrols the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoon vehicleof the platoon of vehicles enters the other traffic lane first and thenthe other platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane ahead of thelast vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner.
 2. The platooncontrol system of claim 1, wherein, responsive to said platoon control,each said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respectiveplatoon vehicle so that the platoon vehicles enter the other trafficlane in order from the last platoon vehicle to the lead platoon vehicle.3. The platoon control system of claim 2, wherein, responsive to saidplatoon control, each said individual platoon vehicle control controlsthe speed of the respective platoon vehicle to decelerate the platoonvehicles together to allow traffic in the other traffic lane that isahead of the last platoon vehicle to pass the platoon of vehicles sothere is clearance for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon ofvehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane.
 4. The platoon controlsystem of claim 1, wherein, responsive to said platoon control, eachsaid individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoonvehicle so that the platoon vehicles enter the other traffic lane in adifferent order than they were in the initial traffic lane.
 5. Theplatoon control system of claim 4, wherein the at least one middleplatoon vehicle comprises (i) a first middle platoon vehicle followingthe lead platoon vehicle, (ii) a second middle platoon vehicle followingthe first middle platoon vehicle and (iii) a third middle platoonvehicle following the second middle platoon vehicle, wherein, responsiveto said platoon control, each said individual platoon vehicle controlcontrols the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoonvehicle, the third middle platoon vehicle and the second middle platoonvehicle enter the other traffic lane, whereby the speeds of therespective platoon vehicles are controlled to generate gaps between thelast, third middle and second middle platoon vehicles that have enteredthe other traffic lane and to align the lead and first middle platoonvehicles that are still in the initial traffic lane with the gaps, andwherein, when the lead and first middle platoon vehicles that are stillin the initial traffic lane are aligned with the gaps and the speeds ofthe platoon vehicles are the same, said individual platoon vehiclecontrols of the respective lead and first middle platoon vehicles in theinitial traffic lane control those respective platoon vehicles to enterthe other traffic lane at the gaps between the last, third middle andsecond middle platoon vehicles that have already entered the othertraffic lane.
 6. The platoon control system of claim 5, wherein,responsive to said platoon control, each said individual platoon vehiclecontrol adjusts the speed of the respective platoon vehicle (i) to allowtraffic in the other traffic lane ahead of the last platoon vehicle topass the platoon vehicles and ii to align the platoon vehicles that arestill in the initial traffic lane with respective gaps between theplatoon vehicles that have moved into the other traffic lane.
 7. Theplatoon control system of claim 1, wherein, responsive to said platooncontrol, each said individual platoon vehicle control controls therespective platoon vehicle to maneuver the platoon vehicles to the othertraffic lane responsive to a determination of clearance in the othertraffic lane as determined by a short range sensing system of each ofthe respective platoon vehicles.
 8. The platoon control system of claim1, wherein, responsive to determination of a vehicle or obstacle in theinitial traffic lane ahead of the platoon of vehicles, said individualplatoon vehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle tomaneuver the platoon vehicles to the other traffic lane.
 9. The platooncontrol system of claim 8, wherein the determination of the vehicle orobstacle in the initial traffic lane ahead of the platoon of vehicles isresponsive to at least one of (i) a long range sensing system of thelead platoon vehicle and (ii) a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system.10. The platoon control system of claim 8, wherein the determination ofthe vehicle or obstacle in the initial traffic lane ahead of the platoonof vehicles is made by said platoon control.
 11. The platoon controlsystem of claim 1, wherein each said individual platoon vehicle controlcontrols (i) an accelerator of the respective platoon vehicle, (ii)steering of the respective platoon vehicle, (iii) a brake system of therespective platoon vehicle and (iv) a turn signal indicator of therespective platoon vehicle.
 12. A platoon control system for controllinga plurality of vehicles traveling together as a platoon, said platooncontrol system comprising: a platoon control in communication with aplurality of individual platoon vehicle controls disposed at respectiveplatoon vehicles of a platoon of vehicles; wherein each individualplatoon vehicle control of said plurality of individual platoon vehiclecontrols is associated with a respective platoon vehicle of the platoonof vehicles traveling along an initial traffic lane, and wherein theplatoon of vehicles comprises a lead platoon vehicle, a last platoonvehicle and at least one middle platoon vehicle between the lead platoonvehicle and the last platoon vehicle; wherein said platoon control isdisposed at one of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles;wherein at least one short range sensing system disposed at each platoonvehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another trafficlane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine ifanother vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near therespective platoon vehicle; wherein, responsive to said at least oneshort range sensing system of each platoon vehicle of the platoon ofvehicles, said platoon control determines if there is clearance in theother traffic lane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon ofvehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive toa determination by said platoon control that a vehicle or obstacle is inthe initial traffic lane ahead of the platoon of vehicles, each saidindividual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoonvehicle to maneuver the respective platoon vehicle from the initialtraffic lane traveled by the platoon vehicles to the other traffic lanein a manner that limits or precludes other vehicles from interruptingthe platoon of vehicles as they maneuver into the other traffic lane;and wherein, responsive to said platoon control determining that thereis clearance in the other traffic lane for all of the platoon vehiclesof the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into the other traffic lane, eachsaid individual platoon vehicle control controls the respective platoonvehicle so that the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehiclesenters the other traffic lane first and then the middle platoon vehiclesand the lead platoon vehicle enter the other traffic lane ahead of thelast vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner.
 13. The platooncontrol system of claim 12, wherein each said individual platoon vehiclecontrol controls the respective platoon vehicle so that the platoonvehicles enter the other traffic lane in order from the last platoonvehicle to the lead platoon vehicle.
 14. The platoon control system ofclaim 13, wherein each said individual platoon vehicle control controlsthe speed of the respective platoon vehicle to decelerate the platoonvehicles together to allow traffic in the other traffic lane that isahead of the last platoon vehicle after the last platoon vehicle haschanged lanes to pass the platoon vehicles.
 15. The platoon controlsystem of claim 12, wherein each said individual platoon vehicle controlcontrols the respective platoon vehicle so that the platoon vehiclesenter the other traffic lane in a different order than they were in theinitial traffic lane.
 16. The platoon control system of claim 15,wherein the at least one middle platoon vehicle comprises (i) a firstmiddle platoon vehicle following the lead platoon vehicle, (ii) a secondmiddle platoon vehicle following the first middle platoon vehicle and(iii) a third middle platoon vehicle following the second middle platoonvehicle, and wherein each said individual platoon vehicle controlcontrols the respective platoon vehicle so that the last platoonvehicle, the third middle platoon vehicle and the second middle platoonvehicle enter the other traffic lane, whereby the speeds of therespective platoon vehicles are controlled to generate gaps between thelast, third middle and second middle platoon vehicles that have enteredthe other traffic lane and to align the lead and first middle platoonvehicles that are still in the initial traffic lane with the gaps, andwherein, when the lead and first middle platoon vehicles that are stillin the initial traffic lane are aligned with the gaps and the speeds ofthe platoon vehicles are the same, said individual platoon vehiclecontrols of the respective lead and first middle platoon vehicles in theinitial traffic lane control those respective platoon vehicles to enterthe other traffic lane at the gaps between the last, third middle andsecond middle platoon vehicles that have already entered the othertraffic lane.
 17. The platoon control system of claim 16, wherein eachsaid individual platoon vehicle control adjusts the speed of therespective platoon vehicle (i) to allow traffic in the other trafficlane ahead of the last platoon vehicle to pass the platoon vehicles andii to align the platoon vehicles that are still in the initial trafficlane with respective gaps between the platoon vehicles that have movedinto the other traffic lane.
 18. The platoon control system of claim 12,wherein the determination of the vehicle or obstacle in the initial laneahead of the platoon of vehicles is made by said platoon controlresponsive to at least one of (i) a long range sensing system of thelead platoon vehicle and (ii) a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system.19. A platoon control system for controlling a plurality of vehiclestraveling together as a platoon, said platoon control system comprising:a platoon control in communication with a plurality of individualplatoon vehicle controls disposed at respective platoon vehicles of aplatoon of vehicles; wherein each individual platoon vehicle control ofsaid plurality of individual platoon vehicle controls is associated witha respective platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles traveling alongan initial traffic lane, and wherein the platoon of vehicles comprises alead platoon vehicle, a last platoon vehicle and at least one middleplatoon vehicle between the lead platoon vehicle and the last platoonvehicle; wherein a short range sensing system disposed at each platoonvehicle of the platoon of vehicles senses a region of another trafficlane immediately adjacent to the initial traffic lane to determine ifanother vehicle is present in the other traffic lane at or near therespective platoon vehicle; wherein, responsive to said short rangesensing system of each platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehicles, saidplatoon control determines if there is clearance in the other trafficlane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles tomaneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to saidplatoon control determining that there is clearance in the other trafficlane for all of the platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles tomaneuver into the other traffic lane, each said individual platoonvehicle control controls the respective platoon vehicle to maneuver theplatoon vehicles from the initial traffic lane traveled by the platoonvehicles to the other traffic lane in a manner that limits or precludesother vehicles from interrupting the platoon of vehicles as theymaneuver into the other traffic lane; wherein, responsive to saidplatoon control, each said individual platoon vehicle control controlsthe respective platoon vehicle so that, responsive to a determination bysaid platoon control of clearance in the other traffic lane for all ofthe platoon vehicles of the platoon of vehicles to maneuver into theother traffic lane, the last platoon vehicle of the platoon of vehiclesenters the other traffic lane first and then the middle platoon vehiclesand the lead platoon vehicle enter the other traffic lane ahead of thelast vehicle in a predetermined controlled manner; wherein thepredetermined controlled manner comprises one of (i) maneuvering theplatoon vehicles so that the platoon vehicles enter the other trafficlane in order from the last platoon vehicle to the lead platoon vehicleand (ii) maneuvering the platoon vehicles so that the platoon vehiclesenter the other traffic lane in a different order than they were in theinitial traffic lane; and wherein, responsive to said platoon control,each said individual platoon vehicle control controls at least (i) anaccelerator of the respective platoon vehicle, (ii) steering of therespective platoon vehicle, (iii) a brake system of the respectiveplatoon vehicle and (iv) a turn signal indicator of the respectiveplatoon vehicle.
 20. The platoon control system of claim 19, whereineach said individual platoon vehicle control controls the respectiveplatoon vehicle to maneuver the platoon vehicles from the initialtraffic lane to the other traffic lane responsive to a determination ofa vehicle or obstacle in the initial traffic lane ahead of the platoonof vehicles, and wherein the determination of the vehicle or obstacle inthe initial traffic lane ahead of the platoon of vehicles is made bysaid platoon control responsive to at least one of (i) a long rangesensing system of the lead platoon vehicle and (ii) a vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication system.